Article packing card



Dec. 5, 1961 c, A U I 3,011,628

ARTICLE PACKING CARD I Filed Nov. 2, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. (A/9L A SPPA 60.5

H/S A 7'7'0E/VEY 1961 c. F. SPRAGUE 3,011,628

ARTICLE PACKING CARD Filed Nov. 2, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. (ARA f. jPPA 61/5 19/5 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,011,628 ARTICLE PACKING CARD Carl F. Sprague, Lyndhurst, Ohio, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 2, 1960, Ser. No. 66,806 Claims. (Cl. 206-45.19)

This invention relates in general to packaging of the type customarily made of paperboard or other similar foldable sheet material, and more particularly to a package for holding and displaying articles such as electric lamps, for instance.

The packaging most generally employed heretofore for certain miniature type incandescent lamps, such as Christmas lamps of the type employing glass bulbs of candleflame shape, have been of rather complicated constuction involving the use of box or platform sections the fabrication of which ordinarily entails a considerable number of manufacturing operations, such as scoring, cutting, folding, gluing, etc, which add considerably to the cost of the finished product. In addition, such type of packaging generally requires a considerable amount of paperboard stock material for its fabrication which also adds to the manufacturing cost.

As generally constructed, moreover, such prior type Christmas lamp packaging has been adapted to support or hold a number of the individual lamps, such as five or so, in a single package. As a consequence, the sale of less than a full package of lamps, which is frequently requested by the customer, requires the removal from the package of one or more of the lamps, leaving the package partially empty. Such lamp removal is not only inconvenient and time consuming but also renders the depleted package unattractive in appearance.

It is an object of my invention, therefore, to provide a simplified form of packaging for articles which can be easily and inexpensively fabricated and which requires a minimum of stock material for its fabrication.

Another object of my invention is to provide a mutiple packaging arrangement for articles which can be easily and quickly separated into one or more smaller unit packages, without in any way adversely affecting the appearance of the original package.

Still another object of'my invention isto provide a packing card for supporting and displaying one or more articles such as miniature incandescent lamps in side-byside relation and which can be easily and quickly assembled in row alignment with one or more like packing cards, when the articles are in place therein, to thereby provide a multiple unitary assembly of such cards.

Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a package for an article such as a miniature electric lamp of the type having a tubular base at one end and its other end tapered, is composed of a fiat sheet of paperboard or other similar foldahle sheet material formed with a pair of spaced parallel folding scores extending thereacross, the sheet being further provided with one or more pairs of spaced openings extending inwardly toward each other from the respective scores for snugly receiving the base end and the tapered end, respectively, of the lamps when the sheet is tightly wrapped around the length or" the lamps into arch shape, with the lamp bases inserted in place in the respective openings therefor in the sheet. The side portions of the sheet outwardly of the scores are formed with short tab-like continuations extending a short distance inwardly into the lamp receiving openings in the sheet beyond the respective scores therein for engaging with the lamp to thereby hold the side portions of the sheet in bent-out positions about the scores so as to lie in planes generally parallel to the lamp axis and form wing-like side flaps on the lamp package or card.

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Further objects and advantages of my invention will ap pear from the following detailed description of a species thereof and from the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a plan view of a packing card comprising my invention.

FIG. 2 is a section on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 to 6 are sectional views of the packing card showing the successive steps involved in assembling a lamp in place in the packing card.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the final lamp package showing the packing card formed into its lamp holding position with the lamps properly inserted and held in place therein, and

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 88 of FIG. 7 showing aplurality of the lamp packages assembled together in nested relation with each other.

While the invention is described hereinbelow as ap plied to the packaging of electric lamps such as the conventional type Christmas lamp employing a glass bulb of candlefiame shape, it should be understood that the packing card according to the invention may be utilized for the packaging of any type of article having essentially the same general contour or shape as the above mentioned type of electric lamp.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the packing card according to the invention comprises an essentially rectangular shaped piece 1 of relatively stiff sheet material such as paperboard or like foldable sheet material provided on one face thereof with a pair of spaced parallel discontinuous folding scores 2 and 3 which divide the sheet 1 into a central panel portion 4 and side panel or flap portions 5 and 6. The cen tral panel 4 is provided with one or more (preferably two as shown) cooperating pairs of openings 7 and 8 for snugly receiving the tubular base end 9 and the tapered bulb end 10, respectively, of a conventional type Christmas lamp 11 provided with a glass bulb 12 of candleflame shape. The two openings 7, 8 of each pair extend inwardly toward and in alignment with each other from the opposite side panel portions 5 and 6, respectively, of the sheet 1 at the regions of the discontinuities in the respective scores 2 and 3. Thus, the two parallel scores extend across the sheet 1 in a direction trans versely to the common center line of, and through the openings 7, 8 at regions adjacent the outwardly facing ends thereof. The size and shape of the openings 7 and 8 will, of course, depend upon the particular size and shape of the base end 9 and the tapered end 10. of the lamp or other article 12 which is to be mounted on the packing card. In the case of the particular lamp 11 illustrated, however, having a tubular base 9 and a glass bulb 12 of circular cross section and formed with a tapered end 10, the base-receiving opening 7 is essentially of circular shape while the bulb end receiving opening 8 is of generally oval or egg shape with its wider end facing outwardly,

The side panel or flap portions 5 and 6 of the sheet 1 are formed with short tab portions or continuations 13 and 14, respectively, which extend inwardly into the respective openings 7 and 8 a short distance beyond the scores 2 and 3 at the regions of the discontinuities therein. These tab portions or continuations 13 and 14 are adapted to engage the base end 9 and the tapered bulb end 10 of the lamp 11, when the base end 9 is inserted in the opening 7 and thecentral panel portion 4 of the packing card 1 then tightly wrapped around the length of the bulb and the tapered end 1% of the bulb inserted in the opening 8, to thereby hold the side panel portions 5 and 6 of the packing card in bent-out positions about their folding scores 2 and 3 so as to lie in planes generally parallel to the lamp axis and form wing-like side flaps on the lamp-inserted card (FIG. 7). The bent-out r 3 a side flap portions 5 and 6 of the packing card thus provide convenient surface area portions for the imprinting of advertising media or the placing of article price markings thereon.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 6, in assembling the lamp or other article 11 in the packing card 1 the side panel portion 5 of the card is first bent out at an angle of at least 90 relative to the central panel portion 4 so as to swing the inward tab portion 13 out of and clear of the base-receiving opening 7 in the card to permit the insertion of the base end 9 of a lamp into the said opening 7, as shown in FIG. 3. The opposite side panel portion 6 of the packing card is then likewise bent out at an angle of at least 90 to the central panel 4 in order to swing the inward tab portion 14 out of the opening 8 and thus clear the said opening for the insertion of the tapered end'10 of the lamp bulb thereinto. With the' side panel portion 6 thus bent out along its card is then wrapped tightly along the length of the glass bulb 12 into more or less arch shape as-shown in FIG. -5 to effect the insertion of the tapered end ofithet bulb into thefaperture 8 in the card. For the purposes of the invention, the span across the outwardly facing ends of the openings 7 and 8, which span is, in effect, determined by the spacing between the scores 2 and 3,

-is dimensioned so that, with the lamp base'9 fully inserted into its opening 7 in the packing card, the tapered end 10 of the lamp bulb will just clear the outward end the lamp base 9 and tapered bulb end 10 acts to hold the arched central portion 4 of the packing card snugly wrapped around and tightly against the glass bulb 12 of the lamp, particularly at the region of its maximum diameter.

To permit two or more of the lamp-supported packing cards 1 to be nested together in assembled relation so -as to provide a multiple unitary end-to-end assembly of .a number of the lamp-supported cards, while at the same time permitting easy and quick separation of the individual packing cards from the multiple assembly depending on .the number of individual lamp packs a particular customer wishes to purchase, each of the packing cards 1 is provided with a tongue 16 extending from one edge of the vcentral panel portion 4. By simply inserting or wedging the tongue 16 on one of the lamp-supported cards 1 between a lamp bulb 12 in, and the arched central panel portion 4 of another one of the lamp-supported packing cards 1, the two cards will then be firmly held together in end-to-end nested relation.

Although a preferred embodiment of my invention has been disclosed, it will be understood that the invention .is not to be limited to the specific construction and arrangement of parts shown, but that they may be widely modified within the spirit and scope of my invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: t

1. A packing card for electric lamps and similar articles of essentially convex contour having a tubular porscore line 3, the central panel portion 4 of the packing a tion at one end and their other end tapered, said card comprising a fiat sheet of paperboard having a pair of spaced openings therein for snugly receiving the opposite ends of the article when the sheet is wrapped tightly around the length of the article into arch shape conforming substantially tothe convex contour thereof, said sheet being formed with a pair of spaced parallel folding scores extending across the sheet on one side thereof in a direction transversely to the common center line of and through said openings at regions adjacent the outwardly facing ends thereof, the side portions of said sheet outboard of said scores having short tab portions extending inwardly into said openings a short distance beyond said scores and engaging with the article to thereby hold the said side portions of the sheet in planes lying gene ally parallel to the articleaxis so as to form win -like side flaps on the article-inserted card.

2. A packing card for electric lamps of the type comprising a glass bulb having a base at one end and its other end tapered, said card comprising a flat sheet of paperboard having a pair of spaced parallel folding scores on one side thereof extending across the sheet, said sheet being provided with a pair of spaced openings extending inwardly toward each other from the respective scores and in alignment with one another for snugly receiving the said base and the tapered end of the bulb when the sheet is wrapped tightly around the length of the bulb into arch shape, the side portions of said sheet outboard of said scores having short tab-like continuations extending inwardly into said openings a short distance beyond said scores and engaging with the bulb and the base to thereby hold the said side portions in bent-out positions about said scores so as to lie in planes generally parallel to the lamp axis and form wing-like side flaps on the lamp-inserted card.

3. A packing card as specified in claim 1 and having a tongue portion extending from one of the edges thereof at a region intermediate the said scores for insertion between and wedging engagement with the arched portion of another packing card of like construction and the maximum diameter portion of an article inserted therein to thereby hold the cards in nested assembled position with each other. i

4. A packing card as specified in claim 2 wherein the span across the outwardly facing ends of said openings is dimensioned so that, with the lamp base fully inserted in the respective opening therefor in the sheet, the tapered end of the bulb is insertable into the respective opening therefor in the sheet, upon wrapping of the sheet around the lamp bulb, only when the side flap portion of the sheet outboard of the tapered bulb end opening therein is folded backaboutits respective folding score at an angle of at least to the adjacent portion of the sheet.

5. A packing card as specified in claim 2 wherein the span across the said folding scores is dimensioned so No references cited. 

